British Antarctic Expedition 1910-13
Had we lived, I should have a tale to tell of the hardihood,
endurance and courage of my companions which would have stirred
the heart of every Englishman. These rough notes and our dead
bodies must tell the tale.Robert Falcon Scott, March
29th 1912

Rations for one man for one day
while manhauling, we now know this is insufficient
food for the conditions and work rate. The energy requirement
for manhauling is now known to be 6500 calories per
day, the food ration in the picture supplied around
4600 calories per day. Scott and his men were effectively
on a starvation diet that didn't fulfill their needs
leading to a loss of weight and condition which contributed
to their suffering and loss

Dr. Simpson sending up a hydrogen
balloon, part of the scientific programme of Scott's
Expedition.

The Southern Party in front of
Mount Erebus, eleven men set off to manhaul
and set depots of stores to be used on the way back
from the pole by the five men that made the last push
to the pole. Jan 26th 1911

The South Pole party
from left to right - Oates, Bowers, Scott, Wilson, Evans.
They reached the Pole on the 17th of January 1912.

Scott's Polar party at Amundsen's
tent and marker flag, January 18th 1912, about
a month after Amundsen's party had reached the Pole
on the 14th of December 1911.

Cairn marking the site of the
final campsite where Bowers, Scott and Wilson died.
Scott is thought to have been the last to die on March
29th 1912, the tent and bodies within were not found
until the 12th of November later that year. It was eleven
miles short of "one tin depot" where the food and fuel
there would have probably ensured the men's survival.

Over a few days three parties set off with the intention
to meet along the way. The slowest party was the motor
sledges, next were the ponies and last of all the quickest
group, the dogs who followed later. One of the sledges
soon gave out while the other was abandoned shortly
afterwards, the men of that party carried on by manhauling.

On November 1st 1911, twelve men, each with
a pony and sledge, left Cape Evans in detachments.
This included the final party of five that would
push on towards the pole. The other men were not
to reach the pole, their role was supportive in
helping transport supplies for the polar party and
establishing depots for the polar party to use on
the way back so they didn't have to carry so many
supplies with them. They would then return to the
winter quarters at Hut point.

The distance from the winter quarters at Hut Point
to the Pole and back was 1766 statute miles (further
than Land's End to John O'Groats and back again, (or
from New York City to Wyoming, Chicago or Denver).
Every step of the way had to be marched on foot,
with or without skis.

They travelled by night for the benefit of the ponies,
and as this was the austral summer, they had 24 hour
daylight. Temperatures never rose above zero Fahrenheit
(-18Â°C). Fighting constant snowfalls, the team
reached a food and supplies depot called One Ton Camp
they had laid the previous summer on the fifteenth day.
There was a constant worry that the ponies would not
be able to keep going and upon reaching Camp 20 on November
24th, the first pony was killed. Four camps later, on
December 1st, the second pony was shot. Depots were
made at regular intervals of roughly seventy miles,
each containing food and fuel for a week for the returning
parties.

The weather that season was particularly bad,
extreme cold interspersed with warmer than usual blizzards
that melted the snow and made everything wet and travelling
impossible. The ponies continued to have a difficult
time of it sinking to the level of their bellies in
the soft snow and becoming totally exhausted, they were
shot and left behind as depoted food, leaving the remainder
of the travelling to manhauling.

Each of the party then began by pulling around 200
pounds through soft snow into which they sank into nearly
up to their knees. They were affected by snow-blindness
and sometimes stumbled into crevasses, sledges and all.
On December 13th, the day before Amundsen reached the
Pole, the party had advanced less than four miles in
nine hours. On December 20th Scott named the first returning
party of four. Scott had dreaded this moment as all
had pulled to the limit of their strength, but this
four were now to be deprived of their reward, attainment
of the South Pole. They reached "home" at Hut point
35 days later on January 26th.

The remaining men made good progress and soon the
time came for Scott to make his second difficult announcement
that a further three men were to return to Hut point
leaving the final party of five (originally to be four,
but increased to five at the last moment with the addition
of Bowers) to continue to the pole. The two parties
separated on January 3rd at 87Â°32'S, at an altitude
of 10,280 feet on the high polar plateau, 169 miles
from the Pole.

Scott and the others followed Shackleton's route
from 1909, on January 6th they crossed the line of latitude
where Shackleton turned back and were further south,
88Â°23'S than any man had been before or so they believed.
They were now 97 miles from the pole, but it took
them ten days to cover this due to the weather conditions
and state of the snow and ice they were pulling their
sledges across.

The men were growing very tired by this point,
progress was often made of only five, six or seven miles
a day. Each day was a hard grind and was taking
a dreadful toll. On January 16th they made good progress
and thought that they would reach the Pole the following
day. In the afternoon of that day, Bowers spotted something
ahead which looked like a cairn. Half an hour later
they realized the black speck was a flag tied to a sledge
bearer. Nearby was the remains of a camp along with
tracks made by sledges and dogs, it was not yet the
Pole however.

"This told us the whole story. The Norwegians
have forestalled us and are first at the Pole. It
is a terrible disappointment and I am very sorry
for my loyal companions. Many thoughts come and
much discussion we have had. To-morrow we must march
on the Pole, and then hasten home with all the speed
we can compass. All the day-dreams must go; it will
be a wearisome return".- Scott

January the 17th was "....a horrible day..." , a
strong headwind and temperatures of -30Â°C giving three
of them frostbite. Scott's journal records "Great
God! This is an awful place and terrible enough for
us to have laboured to it without the reward of priority".

They reached the pole on January 17th 1912
to find a small tent supported by a single bamboo flying
a Norwegian flag. Inside was a record of the five who
had been the first to reach the pole;

"We built a cairn, put up our poor slighted
Union Jack, and photographed ourselves - mighty
cold work all of it....."

The return trip started out fairly well but the weather
would become more severe and there was no incentive
of being the first to reach the pole to cheer them and
spur them onwards. Scott wrote on the 21st of January
1912 "Oates is feeling the cold and fatigue more than
most of us" and on the 23rd of January "Wilson suddenly
discovered Evans nose was frostbitten - it was white
and hard. There is no doubt that Evans is a good deal
run down".

By the 24th of January the first note of
serious apprehension entered into Scott's diary
entries:

"This is the second full gale
since we left the pole. I don't like the look of
it. Is the weather breaking up? If so God help us,
with the tremendous journey and scanty food".

The men were becoming tired now and injuries were
increasing, they didn't know it but they had been undernourished
for several weeks, Wilson suffered snow-blindness,
Oates had frostbitten feet. Frostbite also affected
Evans' fingers and nose. They had many falls, Scott
damaging his shoulder in one. Evans had a bad fall on
the 4th of February suffering concussion - he was never
to really recover.

They became lost at one point while descending
the Beardmore glacier and had a nightmarish two days
in badly crevassed and broken ice not knowing in which
direction to head and becoming more despondent.
They were down to their last meal and unable to find
the food depot until at the last they did so. "It was
an immense relief and we were soon in possession of
our three and a half days food. The relief to all is
inexpressible.......... Yesterday was the worst experience
of the trip and gave a horrid feeling of insecurity".

February 16th - "Evans has nearly broken down
in brain, we think". The next day he started reasonably
well but soon left his sledge traces to walk alongside.
He fell further and further back and was soon out of
sight. By lunchtime the others went back to find him.
He was on his knees, clothing disarranged, hands uncovered
and frostbitten and with a "wild look in his eyes" (some
of the classic signs of hypothermia). He was placed
onto a sledge and taken to the camp they had set up,
he was comatose by the time he was placed in the tent.
He died quietly at 12.30 a.m.

The weather continued to be against them, particularly
intense cold down to -40Â°C and the surface bad for
hauling a sledge over beyond their worst fears.
On March 5th Scott records "Oates' feet are in a wretched
condition... The poor soldier is very nearly done."
Despite the cold and awful surfaces Oates kept going
attended to by Wilson the doctor, but on March the 16th
he proposed that his companions leave him in his sleeping
bag and continue themselves. A request they could not
grant and induced him to join the afternoon march when
they made a few extra miles. He was worse that night
and went to sleep hoping not to wake, he did wake however
to find a blizzard blowing. His now famous last words
were "I am just going outside and may be some time."
He walked out to his death so that he would no longer
be a burden to his friends who themselves were in worsening
physical condition. His feet had been so bad and the
process of putting his boots on so painful that he didn't
go through this torture and walked out to his death
in his socks.

"We knew that poor Oates was walking
to his death, but though we tried to dissuade him,
we knew it was the act of a brave man and an English
gentleman. We all hope to meet the end with a similar
spirit and assuredly the end is not far."

The last camp was made on March 19th only 11 miles
from the next depot. They woke on the 20th to another
raging blizzard. Scott was suffering badly from a frostbitten
foot and Wilson and Bowers were to go to the depot for
fuel. By the 22nd they still had not been able to set
off, the blizzard was as bad as ever. They never left
this final camp having run out of food and fuel, eventually
being too weak, cold and hungry to attempt the march.
On the 29th of March 1912 Scott made his last diary
entry;

"Since the 21st we have had a continuous gale from
W.S.W. and S.W. We had fuel to make two cups of tea
apiece and bare food for two days on the 20th. Every
day we have been ready to start for our depot 11 miles
away, but outside the door of the tent it remains a
scene of whirling drift. I do not think we can hope
for better things now. We shall stick it out to the
end, but we are getting weaker of course, and the end
cannot be far.

It seems a pity but I do not
think I can write more."

The tent and the three frozen bodies were not discovered
until nearly 8 months later on November 12th that year.
A great cairn of ice was raised over their bodies surmounted
by a cross made from skis, a sledge was stood on one
end in a smaller cairn nearby.

A search was made for Captain Oates' body, but it
was never found, only his discarded sleeping bag, cut
open for much of the length to enable him to enter it
with badly frostbitten feet.

A cairn was placed at the scene of the search with
a note that began "Hereabouts died a very gallant gentleman...."